Shawn Snow

My paintings are abstract, but have a sense of visual depth as in landscape. I do a lot of controlled glazing, spraying, and splattering to achieve the effects that I enjoy. I use those techniques to make my work visually dynamic, charging the image with energy and inner power.

I like patina and rust, and all variety of visual texture. These things convey age to me. The appearance of aging is important to me because it makes me feel grounded in something very earthly and primeval; something ancient and mysterious; like walking into an unknown world and seeing some eroded stone statuary.

I like visual depth and atmosphere; as if that unknown world is lit through a white mist and the shadows are deep and cool. The air is heavy with moisture and everything glistens.

I like contrast and motion; colors colliding and pulling apart. Like the view of that shadowy unknown world suddenly atomized and flash frozen; forms are shattered and then re-formed; and though resisting complete solidity, they exude an essential familiarity.

With those ideas in mind, I made paintings that I felt were full of energy; foaming, flowing, bursting; but simultaneously cooling and freezing; returning to the solid state. Smaller cycles gave way to larger ones, which coalesced into patterns unforeseen but were innately recognizable in the end.

Established in 1991, Carrie Haddad Gallery represents mid-career and emerging artists of the Hudson Valley and beyond working in painting, sculpture, mixed media and photography. We organize 7 group exhibits per year in a 3000 square foot gallery space on Hudson's Warren Street.